Data storage and access systems

ABSTRACT

Data storage and access systems enable downloading and paying for data such as audio and video data, text, software, games and other types of data. A portable data carrier has an interface for sending and receiving data, data memory for storing received content data, and payment validation memory for providing payment validation data to an external device. The carrier may also store a record of access made to the stored content, and content use rules for controlling access to the stored content. Embodiments store further access control data and supplementary data such as hot links to web sites and/or advertising data. A complementary data access terminal, data supply computer system, and data access device are also described. The combination of payment data and stored content data and use rule data helps reduce the risk of unauthorized access to data such as compressed music and video data, especially over the Internet.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/438,754, filed on Apr. 3, 2012; which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 13/212,047, filed Aug. 17, 2011 and issuedas U.S. Pat. No. 8,336,772 on Dec. 25, 2012, which is a continuation ofSer. No. 12/943,872, filed on Nov. 10, 2010 and issued as U.S. Pat. No.8,118,221 on Feb. 21, 2012; which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/014,558, filed on Jan. 15, 2008, now issued U.S.Pat. No. 7,942,317 on May 17, 2011; which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/336,758, filed on Jan. 19, 2006, nowissued U.S. Pat. No. 7,334,720 on Feb. 26, 2008; which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/111,716, filed on Sep. 17, 2002,which application is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. 371,claiming the priority of international PCT Application No. GB00/104110,filed on Oct. 25, 2000; which claims priority to UK Application No.9925227.2, filed on Oct. 25, 1999, each of which is incorporated byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is generally concerned with data storage and accesssystems. More particularly, it relates to a portable data carrier forstoring and paying for data and to computer systems for providing accessto data to be stored. The invention also includes corresponding methodsand computer programs. The invention is particularly useful for managingstored audio and video data, but may also be applied to storage andaccess of text and software, including games, as well as other types ofdata.

One problem associated with the increasingly wide use of the internet isthe growing prevalence of so-called data pirates. Such pirates obtaindata either by unauthorized or legitimate means and then make this dataavailable essentially world-wide over the internet withoutauthorization. Data can be a very valuable commodity, but once it hasbeen published on the internet it is difficult to police access to anduse of it by internet users who may not even realize that it is pirated.This is a particular problem with audio recordings, and, once thebandwidth becomes available, is also likely to be evident with video.

Over the past three or four years compressed audio sources have becomeincreasingly widely available on web pages. One widely used audio datacompression format is MP3 (MPEG Audio Layer 3 of the MPEG1 compressionalgorithm), which is an internationally defined standard including adefinition of compressed audio information such as speech or music. Itrelies on psycho-acoustic properties of human hearing to achieve verylarge data compression factors. It is thus feasible to download usefullylong passages of music in a practically convenient short time. Piratedata suppliers have not been slow to realize the potential of this, andmany unauthorized websites have sprung up offering popular music,including recent releases by world-famous bands. This has caused therecording industry considerable concern and there is an urgent need tofind a way to address the problem of data piracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is therefore provided a methodof providing portable data comprising providing a portable data storagedevice comprising downloaded data storage means and payment validationmeans; providing a terminal for internet access; coupling the portabledata storage device to the terminal; reading payment information fromthe payment validation means using the terminal; validating the paymentinformation; and downloading data into the portable storage device froma data supplier.

Another aspect of the invention provides a corresponding mobile dataretrieval device for retrieving and outputting data such as stored musicand/or noise from the data storage device.

The payment validation means is, for example, means to validate paymentwith an external authority such as a bank or building society. Thecombination of the payment validation means with the data storage meansallows the access to the downloaded data which is to be stored by thedata storage means, to be made conditional upon checked and validatedpayment being made for the data. Binding the data access and paymenttogether allows the legitimate owners of the data to make the dataavailable themselves over the internet without fear of loss of revenue,thus undermining the position of data pirates.

A further advantage of the system is that it allows users under the ageof 18 to make internet purchases. Currently internet users pay for goodsand/or services by credit card. Since credit cards cannot legitimatelybe used by persons under the age of 18 (at least in the UK), asignificant fraction of adventurous internet users are excluded frome-commerce, one of the most significant predicted uses of the internet.In one embodiment of the invention, however, the payment validationmeans comprises e-cash; that is, the payment validation means storestransaction value information on a cash value of transactionsvalidatable by the data storage means. In simple terms, the data storagemeans can be a card which is charged up to a desired cash value (ifnecessary limited to a maximum value) at a suitable terminal. This mightbe an internet access terminal but could, more simply, be a device toaccept the data storage card and to receive and count money deposited bythe user to charge the card, writing update cash value information ontothe card. More sophisticated ways of updating the cash value on the cardare also possible, such as direct bank transfer. Since, with this typeof embodiment, the data storage means is, essentially, precharged withcash rather than acting as a credit card, it can be used by young peoplewithout the risk of their incurring large debts.

In one embodiment the data storage means is powered by the retrievaldevice when it is connected to the device and retains a memory of thedownloaded data when it is unpowered. This can be achieved by the use ofFlash RAM or, more generally, any form of programmable read-only memory.Alternatively the data storage means may incorporate a rechargeable cellor capacitor and store information in battery backed-up static RAM.

The downloaded data may be entered into the data storage device by meansof an interface such as a magnetically or capacitatively coupledconnection or an optical connection, but preferably the interfacecomprises contacts for direct electrical connection to the storagemeans. The payment validation means may likewise have one of a varietyof interfaces but again preferably comprises a set of electricalcontacts. The payment validation means could, however, comprise amagnetic or holographic data-strip such as is known for use with creditcards and phone cards. The interface to receive the downloaded data maybe separate from the interface to the payment validation means, tofacilitate separate and simultaneous access to both these systems. Inother embodiments a single interface may serve for both data storage andpayment. Advantageously the payment validation means includes memorystoring information to identify the person who is paying for thedownloaded data.

For additional security the downloaded data may be encrypted. In thiscase data decryption may be necessary at some stage, either in the datastorage means or in the retrieval device or in an information deliveringapparatus such as a data access terminal. Alternatively the datadecryption function can be shared amongst one or more of these devices.The skilled person will be aware of a range of suitableencryption/decryption techniques, including Pretty Good Privacy(Registered Trade Mark) and PKI (Public Key Infrastructure). Normally,when the downloaded data is encrypted, a decryption key must besupplied. This can be generated automatically by the data accessterminal or data access service provider or it can be entered by theuser into the data access terminal or into the mobile data retrievaldevice.

The data storage means and/or the retrieval device can be provided withaccess control means to prevent unauthorized access to the downloadeddata. Additionally or alternatively, use control means can be providedto stop or provide only limited access of the user to the downloadeddata in accordance with the amount paid. These access and use controlfunctions may in some embodiments be combined, permitted use controllingaccess or permitted access controlling use. Thus, for example, acomplete set of data information relating to a particular topic, aparticular music track, or a particular software package might bedownloaded, although access to part of the data set might thereafter becontrolled by payments made by a user at a later stage. In this way, auser could pay to enable an extra level on a game or to enable furthertracks of an album.

In embodiments where the access or use control means is responsive tothe payment validation means, access or use control information may bestored with the downloaded data or in a separate storage area, forexample in the payment validation means. The user's access to thedownloaded data could advantageously be responsive to the paymentvalidation means, for example, by means of a control line coupling thepayment validation means with a memory access or decryption controlelement.

In one embodiment the data storage means comprises an electronic memorycard or smart card and the mobile data retrieval device is provided witha slot to receive the card. Preferably the card is a push-fit within theretrieval device, and retention of the card may be effected by pressurefrom electrical interface connections and/or resilience of the housing,or by using a resilient retaining means. In a preferred embodiment theretrieval device includes an audio output and a display, to play adownloaded track and to show information about the track and/or anaccompanying video.

To download data onto the data storage means the user can employ a dataaccess terminal coupled to the internet. The terminal can directlyvalidate payment; for example in the case of a smart card charged withelectronic cash it can deduct a cash value from the card. Alternativelyit can communicate with a bank or other financial services provider tocontrol payment. In a preferred embodiment, however, the terminalconnects to a data access service provider which provides a portal toother sites and which validates payment and then forwards data from adata supplier to the user's local access terminal. The data accessservice provider may alternatively forward payment validationinformation and/or information from the payment validation authority tothe data supplier for control by the supplier of the data supplied.Thus, access to the payment validation system and/or data fordownloading may be entirely controlled by the data supplier.

Data held on the data storage means may advantageously include datarelating to the user's or payer's usage of the system. This informationmay include, for example, information on a user's spending pattern,information on data suppliers used and information on the downloadeddata. This information may be accessed by the data supplier and/or dataaccess service provider and can be used for targeted marketing orloyalty-based incentive schemes such as air miles or the like.

The data access terminal may be a conventional computer or,alternatively, it may be a mobile phone. Wireless Application Protocol(WAP) and i-mode allow mobile phones to efficiently access the internetand this allows a mobile phone to be used to download data to the datastorage means, advantageously, directly. The data storage means can, ifdesired, incorporate the functionality of a mobile phone SIM (SubscriberIdentity Module) card, which cards already include a user identificationmeans, to allow user billing through the phone network operator.

In a preferred embodiment the downloaded data is MP3 or other encodedaudio data, but the system finds more general application for other datatypes. For example, download data can include software, and particularlygames, share price information, current news information, transporttimetable information, weather information and catalog shoppinginformation. The downloaded information may also include compressedvideo data. The storage capacity of the data storage means is adaptableto suit the type of data intended to be downloaded; for example, 32megabytes is sufficient for CD quality music, but for video it ispreferable that the data storage means has a capacity of 128 megabytesor greater.

In another aspect, the invention provides a portable data carriercomprising an interface for reading and writing data from and to thecarrier; non-volatile data memory, coupled to the interface, for storingdata on the carrier; non-volatile payment data memory, coupled to theinterface, for providing payment data to an external device.

These features allow the data carrier to store both payment data andcontent data, thus providing the advantages outlined above. Dependingupon the payment system used, the payment data memory may also storecode for validating or confirming a payment to an external paymentsystem. The payment data will normally be linked to a card or cardholder identification data for payment by the card holder. Thenon-volatile memory ensures that stored content and payment data isretained in the data carrier when the data carrier is not receivingpower from an external source. Thus “non-volatile” encompasses, forexample, low-power memory whose contents are retained by a batteryback-up system. In one embodiment the payment data memory comprisesEEPROM and the content data memory comprises Flash memory, but othertypes of content data memory, such as optical, for example, holographic,data memory can also be used. The data carrier may also be integratedinto other apparatus, such as a mobile communications device.

Preferably, the portable data carrier further comprises a program storefor storing code implementable by a processor; and a processor, coupledto the content data memory, the payment data memory, the interface andto the program store for implementing code in the program store, whereinthe code comprises code to output payment data from the payment datamemory to the interface and code to provide external access to the datamemory.

Normally, the (content) data memory allows both write and read accessfor both storing and retrieving data, but in some embodiments thecontent data memory may be read-only memory (ROM). In such embodiments,content may be pre-loaded onto the carrier and payment may then be madefor permission to access the pre-loaded data.

Preferably, the data carrier also stores a record of access made to thecontent data and updates this in response to external access, preferablyread access, made to the data memory. The carrier may also store contentuse rules pertaining to allowed use of stored data items. These userules may be linked to payments made from the card to provide paymentoptions such as access to buy content data outright; rental access tocontent data for a time period or for a specified number of accessevents; and/or rental/purchase, for example where rental use is providedtogether with an option to purchase content data at the reduced priceafter rental access has expired.

Thus where the data carrier stores, for example, music, the purchaseoutright option may be equivalent to the purchase of a compact disc(CD), preferably with some form of content copy protection such asdigital watermarking. In this example, the rental or subscriptionpayment option may be a pay-per-play option, and with this optionpayment may either be before or after access to the stored data so thatthe carrier may operate in either a debit or credit payment mode.

The portability of the data carrier potentially allows it to be used toaccess content or, in the example, play music without the need to belinked to a communications system or to be on-line to the internet. Byproviding a use record memory on the data carrier, use of the storeddata can be tracked while off-line and then any necessary payment can bemade when the data carrier is next coupled to a communication system.This allows the data carrier to operate in a credit mode. In a debitmode, the additional storage of use rules facilitates the regulation ofaccess to content data stored on the carrier without the need forfurther exchange of payment/use data with an external system to validatethe use.

By combining digital rights management with content data storage using asingle carrier, the stored content data becomes mobile and can beaccessed anywhere while retaining control over the stored data for thedata content provider or data copyright owner. Preferably, the datacarrier also stores access control data, such as a user ID and apassword, as the stored data may be valuable. The access control datamay be combined with access control to the payment data, which istypically by means of a PIN (Personal Identification Number) to simplifyaccess to valued content stored on the carrier.

In one embodiment the stored content data is encrypted and a uniquepassword or PIN and/or biometric data is required for decryption. Thedata carrier may be arranged so that the content is erased after apredetermined number of incorrect access attempts. Additionally oralternatively, a permanently stored flag may be set and/or a hardwaremodification (such as a fusable link) may be made to prevent the datacarrier from functioning for further data storage/retrieval. Preferably,however, access to any stored value/payment data is neverthelessretained.

Supplementary data may also be stored on the carrier in association withstored content data. This supplementary data may comprise customerreward management data and/or advertising data. The supplementary datamay comprise a pointer to an external data source from which data isdownloaded either to the data carrier or to a data access device orcontent player, so that advertising or other data can be displayed whenreviewing or accessing the stored content.

Additional data security and/or a mechanism for rewarding operators atdifferent levels in the data supply chain may be provided using acontent synthesis function. The content synthesis function combinespartial content information from two or more sources to provide contentdata items for storage and/or output. Thus, for example, a firstpercentage of a content data item could be provided by a contentretailer, while a remaining percentage could be provided by an on-linedata supplier. This would provide an incentive for a user to registerwith a content retailer or distributor as well as with an on-line systemowner and so could encourage the use of existing retailers and couldprovide a mechanism for paying commission to such retailers. The twoportions of data combined to provide a content data item could compriseencryption data and a key but preferably comprise separate parts of acomplete data item, for example, least significant bits and mostsignificant bits or high frequencies and low frequencies (for audio).This arrangement also facilitates customer reward and loyaltymanagement.

In one embodiment the data carrier further comprises memory for storingdata for accessing a mobile communications network, for example toreceive content data over the network. For such an embodiment, the datacarrier may replace a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card in a mobilecommunications device, thus providing a single card for both networkaccess and valued content retrieval and storage. Additionally oralternatively the card may also store the web address of a data supplierfrom whom data may be downloaded onto the carrier.

The data memory for storing content data may be optic, magnetic orsemiconductor memory, but preferably comprises Flash memory. Preferably,the data memory has a large capacity for storing large data files suchas compressed video data. Preferably, the data memory is partitioned forlock access, that is, for read and/or write access to blocks of, forexample, 1K, 4K, 16K or 64K databytes for faster data access,particularly where the stored content data will normally be accessedserially, as is normally the case with audio and video data. Preferablythe card is configured as an IC card or smart card and has a creditcard-type format, although other formats such as the “memory stick”format may also be used. This provides a small and convenient portableformat and facilitates removable interfacing with a variety of devices.

The invention also provides a related method of controlling access todata on a data carrier, the data carrier comprising non-volatile datamemory and non-volatile parameter memory storing use status data and userules, the method comprising receiving a data access request; readingthe use status data and use rules from memory; and evaluating the usestatus data using the use rules to determine whether access to thestored data is permitted.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided acomputer system for providing data to a data requester, the systemcomprising a communication interface; a data access data store forstoring records of data items available from the system, each recordcomprising a data item description and a pointer to a data provider forthe data item; a program store storing code implementable by aprocessor; a processor coupled to the communications interface, to thedata access data store, and to the program store for implementing thestored code, the code comprising code to receive a request for a dataitem from the requester; code to receive from the communicationsinterface payment data comprising data relating to payment for therequested data item; code responsive to the request and to the receivedpayment data, to read data for the requested data item from a contentprovider; and code to transmit the read data to the requester over thecommunications interface.

The computer system is operated by a data supplier or data supply“system owner” for providing content data to the data carrier describedabove. The payment data received may either be data relating to anactual payment made to the data supplier, or it may be a record of apayment made to an e-payment system relating either to a payment to thedata supplier, or to a payment to a third party. The data from thecontent provider, preferably without permanent (local) storage of theforwarded data, improves data security as the content provider retainscontrol over a content data item, and the data supplier, a copy of adata item, is unable to supply data for the item without the contentprovider's assistance. The computer system may provide temporary storagefor a requested data item, for example using a disk cache, butpreferably the computer system does not store a complete data item, eventemporarily.

Preferably, the computer system includes payment distributioninformation so that when payment is made for a data item, the paymentcan be distributed for reimbursing royalties and making other payments.Typically a large fraction of the payment for a data item will betransferred to a copyright owner or “content provider” for the itemwhile smaller payments will go to the artist and/or publisher and/orretailer/distributor. Payment may be made directly by the computersystem to the computer systems of other relevant parties using, forexample, a signature-transporting type e-payment system. Alternatively,the computer system can issue appropriate instructions to a third partye-payment system for making the transfers. The computer system allowsautomatic distribution of payments either before, during or aftercontent data download, or after content data access by a user.Instructions for distributing the payments may be issued substantiallysimultaneously, thereby avoiding long delays in the payment of someparties; for example, it can presently take a year or more for an artistgenerating content to be paid by conventional methods.

Preferably, the computer system also stores content data item accessrule data, for downloading in association with a content data item. Therule data may be stored by a content provider but is preferably held bythe computer system, and links a content identifier with an access rule,typically based upon a required payment value, as outlined above in thecontext of the data carrier. Normally, each content data item will havean associated access rule, but a single rule may apply to a large numberof data items. The computer system also, preferably, stores requesterreward data for customer reward/loyalty management. This data may againcomprise one or more rules linking a payment value and/or content dataitem type to a specified reward, such as a number of air miles orretailer value points. The computer system preferably also keeps arecord of an identified user's or data's carriers content item downloadsand payments for market research purposes.

The computer system, in one embodiment, also stores access control data,such as an access request identity and password which can be employed,for example, to create an extranet of system users, which again can belinked to stored access record data for marketing purposes. When furtherlinked to content item type data, such an arrangement can be used toconstruct a club of users of content data items of a particular type,for example country and western or rock and roll music. As described inconnection with the portable data carrier, the computer system may alsocomprise content synthesis code for additional data security and formore secure management of payment distributions.

The invention also provides a related method of providing data to a datarequester comprising receiving a request for a data item from therequester; receiving payment data from the requester relating to paymentfor the requested data; reading the requested data from a contentprovider responsive to the received payment data; and transmitting theread data to the requester.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a data access terminal for retrieving data from a data supplierand providing the retrieved data to a data carrier, the terminalcomprising a first interface for communicating with the data supplier; adata carrier interface for interfacing with the data carrier; a programstore storing code implementable by a processor; and a processor,coupled to the first interface, to the data carrier interface and to theprogram store for implementing the stored code, the code comprising:code to read payment data from the data carrier and to forward thepayment data to a payment validation system; code to receive paymentvalidation data from the payment validation system; code responsive tothe payment validation data to retrieve data from the data supplier andto write the retrieved data into the data carrier.

This terminal can be used for retrieving data from the above-describedcomputer system and for downloading the retrieved data to theabove-described portable data carrier. As with the data supply computersystem, it is preferable that there is no (local) storage of contentitem data forwarded from the data supplier to the data carrier. The dataaccess terminal is not restricted to use with the above-described statussupplier and could, for example, retrieve data for downloading to thedata carrier from a local data source, such as a CD (Compact Disc) orDVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or from a third party such as a cable TVcompany.

The terminal reads payment data from the data carrier and transmits thisto a payment validation system for validating the data and authorizingthe payment. This may be part of the data supplier's computer system orit may be a separate system such as an e-payment system. Thus, theterminal operates with a data carrier storing payment (validation) dataand, in some embodiments, additional payment validation code forvalidating payment to the payment validation system. Again, the terminalis preferably configured to provide a data item use rule to the carrierin conjunction with a data item. As before, the data item use rule willnormally be dependent upon payment value information embodied in thepayment data read from the data carrier. The terminal is preferably alsoconfigured for user input of access control data. This access controldata may be forwarded to the data carrier for access permissionverification and/or it may be passed to the data supplier computersystem for a similar purpose. The terminal may be configured to warn auser of content access or data carrier function inhibition after apredetermined number of access requests have been refused. The terminalmay also incorporate content synthesis code as described above.

The terminal may comprise code to output supplementary data whendownloading data to the data carrier. Identity data on the data carriercan be used to retrieve the supplementary data, or a pointer to thesupplementary data, from the data supplier computer system, or thesupplementary data or a pointer thereto can be retrieved directly fromthe data carrier. Preferably, however, identification data on the cardis used to retrieve characterizing data such as card user preferencedata from the data supplier computer system, and this characterizingdata is then used by the terminal to retrieve and output supplementarydata to a terminal user. When the terminal is associated with a contactdistributor or retailer, the supplementary data may be retrieved over anetwork associated with the retailer/distributor such as a local areanetwork (LAN), wide area network (WAN) or extranet.

The invention also provides a method of providing data from a datasupplier to a data carrier, the method comprising reading payment datafrom the data carrier; forwarding the payment data to a paymentvalidation system; retrieving data from the data supplier; and writingthe retrieved data into the date carrier.

The payment validation system may be part of the data supplier'scomputer systems or it may be a separate e-payment system. In oneembodiment the method further comprises receiving payment validationdata from the payment validation system; and transmitting at least aportion of the payment validation data to the data supplier.Alternatively the payment validation system may comprise a paymentprocessor at the data supplier or at a destination retrieved from thedata supplier. The payment processor may also provide paymentdistribution data for distributing a payment represented by the paymentdata.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a data access device forretrieving stored data from a data carrier, the device comprising a userinterface; a data carrier interface; a program store storing codeimplementable by a processor; and a processor coupled to the userinterface, to the data carrier interface and to the program store forimplementing the stored code, the code comprising code to retrieve usestatus data indicating a use status of data stored on the carrier, anduse rules data indicating permissible use of data stored on the carrier;code to evaluate the use status data using the use rules data todetermine whether access is permitted to the stored data; and code toaccess the stored data when access is permitted.

The data access device uses the use status data and use rules todetermine what access is permitted to data stored on the data carrier.As described above, the use rules will normally be dependent uponpayments made for data stored on the data carrier, but may also compriseaccess control employing a user identification and password. Since asingle data carrier may have more than one user, the use status and userules may be selected dependent upon a user identity. The data accessdevice may also be configured to present supplementary data whenpresenting the content data, retrieved as described above, from thecard, from a remote computer system or from some other source such as acable TV network or off-air.

The invention also provides a related method of controlling access todata from a data carrier, comprising retrieving use status data from thedata carrier indicating past use of the stored data; retrieving userules from the data carrier; evaluating the use status data using theuse rules to determine whether access to data stored on the carrier ispermitted; and permitting access to the data on the data carrierdependent on the result of said evaluating.

According to a further aspect of the invention there is provided a dataaccess system comprising a data supply computer system for forwardingdata from a data provider to a data access terminal; an electronicpayment system for confirming an electronic payment; a data accessterminal for communicating with the data supply system to write datafrom the data supply system onto a data carrier; and a data carrier forstoring data from the data supply system and payment data; wherein datais forwarded from the data provider to the data carrier on validation ofpayment data provided from the data carrier to the electronic paymentsystem.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a portable datacarrier comprising an interface for sending and receiving data from andto the carrier; non-volatile data memory, coupled to the interface, forstoring data on the carrier; and a digital rights management processorfor controlling access to the stored data.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a portable datacarrier comprising an interface for sending and receiving data from andto the carrier; non-volatile data memory, coupled to the interface, forstoring data on the carrier; and an access control processor; whereinthe data memory is partitioned as data blocks and the access controlprocessor controls external access to the data blocks.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a computersystem for providing data to a data requester, the system comprising acommunication interface; a data access data store for storing records ofdata items available from the system, each record comprising a data itemdescription and a resource locator; a data provider for the data item; aprogram store storing code implementable by a processor; a processorcoupled to the communications interface, to the data access data store,and to the program store for implementing the stored code, the codecomprising code to receive a request for a data item from the requesterto receive from the communications interface payment data comprisingdata relating to payment for the requested data item; code, responsiveto the request and to the received payment data, to output the item datato the requester over the communication interface; wherein said dataaccess data store further comprises payment distribution informationindicating to whom payments should be made for a data item; and furthercomprising code to output payment data for a data item for makingpayments for the item when the item is supplied to a requester.

In a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a computersystem for providing data to a data requester, the system comprising acommunication interface; a data access data store for storing records ofdata items available from the system, each record comprising a data itemdescription and a printer location data identifying an electronicaddress for a provider for the data item; a program store storing codeimplementable by a processor; a processor coupled to the communicationsinterface, to the data access data store, and to the program store forimplementing the stored code, the code comprising code to receive arequest for a data item from the requester to receive from thecommunications interface payment data comprising data relating topayment for the requested data item; code responsive to the request andto the received payment data to output the item data to the requesterover the communication interface; wherein the data access data storefurther comprises data item access rule data for output to the requesterwith a data item; and further comprising code to select access rule datafor output with a data item in response to the payment data.

In a yet further aspect of the invention, there is provided a method ofproviding data to a data requester comprising receiving a request for adata item from the requester; receiving payment data from the requesterrelating to payment for the requested data; transmitting the requesteddata to the requester; reading payment distribution information from adata store; and outputting payment data to a payment system fordistributing the payment for the requested data.

In a still further aspect of the invention, there is provided a methodof providing data to a data requester comprising receiving a request fora data item from the requester; receiving payment data from therequester relating to payment for the requested data; transmitting therequested data to the requester; and transmitting data access rule datato the requester with the read data.

These and other aspects of the invention will now be further described,by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a data access device a) from the top; b) from the front;and c) from the side;

FIG. 2 shows, conceptually, a portable data carrier;

FIGS. 3 a and b show exemplary data access terminals;

FIGS. 4 a and b show, respectively, a logical signal path betweenelements of a conceptual data access system; and a physicalrepresentation of a conceptual data access system;

FIG. 5 shows a content provision system;

FIG. 6 shows a data supply computer system;

FIG. 7 shows a variety of data access terminals;

FIG. 8 shows a schematic diagram of components of a data accessterminal;

FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of components of a data carrier;

FIG. 10 shows a schematic diagram of components of a data access device;

FIGS. 11 a and 11 b are flow diagrams of a data carrier registrationprocess;

FIGS. 12 a-c and 12 d-e show, respectively, a flow diagram of dataaccess using a data access terminal; and a flow diagram of data supplyusing a data supply computer system; and

FIG. 13 shows a flow diagram of data retrieval using a data accessdevice.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, this shows a data access device for playing MP3audio (10) with operator controls (12) and LCD display (14). The outlineof a smart card data storage device is shown at (16). The operatorcontrols allow a user to select and play tracks, while track informationand still or video images are provided on display (14). A slot (18) isprovided in the front of the device to receive a smart card-type datastorage means. This smart card occupies space (20) and interfaces withresilient contacts (24); it is held in the data retrieval device againstthe contacts, by resilient housing element (22).

Referring now to FIG. 2, this shows a portable data carrier (30)suitable for use with the device of FIG. 1. The data storage means isbased on a standard smart card; it is plastic, about the size of astandard credit card, and has some flexibility. On the card (30) are twosets of contacts, contacts (32) for interfacing with the paymentvalidation means and contacts (34) for interfacing with the memory forstoring downloaded data (although in other embodiments, a single set ofcontacts may be used for both). The surface of the card can beembellished with suitable graphics.

In one embodiment the smart card retains all its useable functionalityas specified for standard Electronics Point of Sale Systems (EPOSS) and,if desired, the memory for storing the downloaded data can beelectrically separate from this. However, it may be preferable toprovide interaction between the standard smart card device and the datamemory in order to accomplish the access control/decryption functionsdescribed above.

Referring now to FIG. 3, an example of a data access terminal is shownat (40). This has a screen (42) and a slot (44) to receive the datacarrier (30). Alternatively the data carrier may interface to theterminal via the data access device (10) and an interface (46) to theterminal (40). In FIG. 3 b a dedicated terminal (50) has a slot (52) toreceive the data carrier, a display (54) and controls (56). Coins can beinserted into the terminal at (58) and notes at (60) to charge the datacarrier with cash.

Referring now to FIG. 4 a, this illustrates conceptually the logicalconnections and data flow between data processing systems involved inpayment validation, and data download to the carrier (30). A userconnects the data carrier (30) to terminal (40) and logs on to a dataweb page of data supply service provider (60). Either terminal (40) orservice provider (60) then communicates via data paths (62) with apayment validation authority (70) to check and authorize the user's orpayer's payment. In the case of electronic cash the terminal (40) mayimmediately validate the payment information, updating the serviceprovider and/or payment validation authority (70) at a later stage. Thelogical connection (64) between the terminal and the service provider ispreferably made over the internet.

The service provider may provide a direct portal to data providers (80)or may collect information from data suppliers (80) and provide a “frontend” to present data from the suppliers to the terminal user.Alternatively, data supply service provider (60) may regulate directaccess between terminal (40) and data providers (80), as shown by links(66), by communicating with the terminal and the data providers toprovide communication regulation information to, for example, instructdata suppliers about what information the user of terminal (40) shouldhave access to.

In a preferred embodiment, service provider (60) pays royalties at anagreed rate—for example, 10 pence per track or 10 pence per minute—to acomputer system owned by a company or entity in the recording industry,such as a content provider or copyright owner, a content publisher or acontent creator, and the user of terminal (40) effectively pays theservice provider. Billing can also be regulated by bandwidth and/or datadownload time.

Preferably the service provider (60) monitors the user's access to thesystem and either stores or forwards to data providers (80), ordownloads to the data carrier (30), usage information. In a preferredembodiment the service provider sends information via terminal (40) todata carrier (30) which can be used to determine incentives to beprovided to users of the system.

FIG. 4 b shows a conceptual physical configuration of the system of FIG.4 a in which a plurality of terminals (40), a plurality of serviceproviders (60) and a plurality of data providers (80) all interact viathe internet. The physical embodiment of the system is not critical anda skilled person will understand that the terminals, data processingsystems and the like can all take a variety of forms.

Referring now to FIG. 5, this shows a conceptual illustration of acontent provision system 100. Content creators 104 a, b generate orreceive content data from artist terminals 102 a-d and store contentdata in databases 106 a, b. The content data stored in databases 106 a,b may comprise audio data, such as music, video data, such as films orTV programs, text, such as literary works, software, such as gamessoftware, or other data. Content creators 104 a, b are coupled tocommunications network 101 for communicating created content data overthe network. Also coupled to communications network 101 are contentpublishers 110 a and 110 b, each of which is coupled to an associatedstored content database, 112 a and 112 b respectively. The contentpublishers make their stored content available for controlled accessusing communications network 101. In some instances, for example wherethe content data comprises computer games, the functions of contentcreator and content publisher may be provided by a single entity. Alsoalthough conceptually illustrated as blocks in FIG. 5, the contentcreator and content publisher typically each comprise a client servercomputer network.

The communications network 101 is typically a private communicationsnetwork, such as an extranet, with security controlled access toentities connected to the network. Physically the network may comprisean internet protocol network or it may comprise, or consist of,dedicated point-to-point links. Thus, for example, a content creator 104may be directly linked to a content publisher 110 and/or to otherentities shown in FIG. 5 such as a content provider or contentdistributor.

The content provision system includes a plurality of content providers108 a-e, each coupled to the communications network 101. In theillustrated system, the content providers own copyright in storedcontent data accessible over communications network 101 and may, inpractice, also perform a content publication function. Five contentproviders own the copyright in over 80% of all world-wide music sales.The content providers are coupled to stored content databases 106 and112 via communications network 101, for supplying stored content data.

A gateway server 114 is also coupled to communications network 101 tolink the communications network to other networks such as the internetand/or mobile communications networks. Gateway server 114 providessecurity and access control functions and firewalls. A second gateway,content distributor WAN gateway 116, is also shown attached tocommunications network 101. This provides similar security and firewallfunctions and coupled communications network 101 to distributor WAN(wide area network) 117. Gateway 116 has logical access to one or moreof a content creator, content publisher and content provider foraccessing stored content data. Content distributor gateway 116 may beowned by a chain of record stores and provide content access terminals118, coupled to WAN 117, in separate retail outlets. Content accessterminals 118 have access, via gateway 116, to stored content accessibleover communications network 101.

Referring now to FIG. 6, this shows a data supply computer system 120.In this embodiment, three content access terminals 118 a-c, e-paymentsystems 121 a, b, and content access web server 124 are all coupled tointernet 142. Data supply system 120 is coupled to the content provisionsystem 100 illustrated in FIG. 5. Where communications network 101 ofFIG. 5 is an extranet, this extranet physically operates over internet142; where communications network 101 does not partly operate viainternet 142, a connection to internet 142 is established via gatewayserver 114 as shown in FIG. 5. In this way content access terminals 118a-c are provided with controlled access to the stored content data ofcontent provision system 100.

E-payment systems 121 a and 121 b are coupled to banks 122 a, b and c, drespectively. These provide an e-payment system according to, forexample, MONDEX, Proton, and/or Visa cash compliant standards.Preferably at least one of e-payment systems 121 a, b operates aso-called “open purse” system in which the value is stored as a publiclyverifiable digital signature issued by the e-payment system. In such asignature-transporting arrangement, payment data may be validated usingpublic keys and thus payment authentication need not be performed by thee-payment system but may instead be performed by, for example, a dataaccess terminal or data supply system computer, using payment managementcode. The authenticated signatures, which in effect perform a similarrole to checks, are submitted to the relevant e-payment system afterauthentication for verification and reimbursement or transfer ofmonetary value. With such a system payments may be made anonymously andthus payer identification is not essential. Data carriers, such as datacards, may be issued with stored value or without value, in which lattercase value (that is, a publicly verifiable digital signature) may bewritten onto the card during an on-line transaction.

In alternative embodiments, a data carrier such as the smart Flash carddescribed below may be used to create value bearing digital signaturesas is well-known to those familiar with e-money.

Content access web server 124 is also coupled to internet 142 forproviding content access terminals 118 a-c with access to content data.Content access web server 124 is typically owned by a content datasupply “system owner” who acts as an intermediary between a contentaccess terminal user and a content provider, forwarding content dataprovided (directly or indirectly) by a content provider to a contentaccess terminal and then to a stored content data carrier. Web server124 is coupled to web server code storage 126 storing Java code forgenerating web pages for interpretation by web browsers on contentaccess terminals 111 a-c. The web pages provide the content download,value add, CRM (customer reward management) value check/spend andwebsite link functions described below.

Web server 124 is coupled to payment processor 128, Digital RightsManagement (DRM) processor 130, access control processor 132, andcontent distribution processor 134. Payment processor 128 includespayment management code storage 128 a and is coupled to payment recorddata store 136. Access control processor 132 includes access controlcode storage 132 a and is coupled to access control data store 138. DRMprocessor 130 includes DRM code storage 130 a and is coupled to contentaccess and DRM data store 140. Content distribution processor 134includes CRM (customer reward management) and payment distributionmanagement code storage 134 a and is also coupled to content access andDRM data store 140. As shown in FIG. 6, processors 128-134 are all incommunication with one another.

Processors 128, 130, 132 and 134 may comprise separate applicationprograms or a single computer program and may operate on a singlephysical computer, on which web server 124 may also be provided, or mayoperate on separate computers. Likewise data stores 136, 138 and 140 maycomprise a single physical data store or may be distributed over aplurality of physical devices and may even be at locations physicallyremote from processors 128-134 and coupled to these processors viainternet 142.

Web server 124 communicates with processors 128-134 by means of a CGI(common gateway interface) script and the code associated withprocessors 128-134 may be written in any conventional computer languagesuch as C, C++, or Perl. However, in other embodiments one or more ofthe processors may be coupled to web server 124 via internet 142 andowned and operated by a separate entity, such as a financialinstitution. In this case conventional secure web-based communicationsmay be operated between web server 124 and the relevant processor. Inparticular, payment processor 128 may be operated by one of thee-payment system providers 128 a, b.

Payment management code 128 a issues and authenticates payment data andstores an audit record in payment record data store 136. Access controlcode 132 a stores identification data (of a user or card) together withregistration data provided by a user when registering with the systemowner. This data comprises a user password for accessing stored contentand/or payment data; user characterizing data, for examplecharacterizing user preferences, for marketing purposes; data indicatingan e-payment system to use; and in some embodiments, further generaluser related data such as card level data for identifying the provisionof “gold” level services to selected users. A copy of the password isstored with the content data on the portable data carrier, as describedfurther below. Alternatively, one or both of the access control datastore and portable data carrier may simply store data for verifying auser-entered password.

Content access and DRM data store 140 stores data related to contentaccess and content use, but does not itself store content data items;these are instead provided via content provision system 100 describedabove. Data store 140 stores a plurality of records each comprising adata item identifier, a data item description, a data item type orgenre, and location data comprising one or more pointers to a locationor locations from where the data item can be downloaded. Associated witha data item is also a table of use rule data comprising a list of values(i.e. content data item prices) and corresponding levels of permittedusage. Thus a value of £1 might permit ten plays of a music track, whilethe value of £10 might permit an unlimited number of plays of the trackand copying of the track for personal use.

Also associated with a data item is a table of payment distribution datacomprising a list of recipients and corresponding fractions of the dataitem value each is to receive. Typically, the main recipient will be thecopyright owner of the data item and other recipients will be selectedfrom the content creator, the artist or artists, the system owner, thecontent publisher, and the retailer/distributor. The paymentdistribution proportions may be dependent upon the payment value, inwhich case a plurality of sets of payment distribution figures may beassociated with each data item, each set of distribution figurescorresponding to a payment value range. The payment data anddistribution data is here termed DRM (Digital Rights Management) data.

Further associated with a data item is a table of CRM (Customer RewardManagement) data, linked to the user rule data, comprising CRM rules tospecify, for one or more data item use levels, a quantity of rewardpoints and one or more recipients for the reward points (the recipientsmay include the card user and the retailer/distributor).

The CRM and payment distribution code 134 a operates with content accessand DRM data store 140 to inform a system user of the description andvalue of a data item, to access and download a data item from thecontent provider system to a content access terminal, to provide contentuse rules with the data item, and to provide instructions either topayment processor 128 or to e-payment system 121 to distribute paymentsfor the data item to the recipients identified by the data store 140 andto distribute CRM reward points.

The access control data store 138 holds a secure key, such as a secret“public” key in a public key cryptography system, for the system ownerto authenticate its identity to a content provider. This data is heldsecurely with other sensitive data in the access control data store 138.As is described in more detail below, when data supply system 120receives a request for a content data item from a content accessterminal 118, it looks up a location from which the data item isavailable using content access and DRM data store 140 and thendetermines the identity of the corresponding content provider. Thisidentity is either stored in content access and DRM data store 140 or,as there are relatively few content providers, it may be hard written inDRM code 130 a. DRM code 130 then requests access control processor 132to provide the secure system owner identifier from access control datastore 138 to the relevant content provider and sets up a trustedconnection between the content provider and content access web server124 for downloading the data item to a content access terminal 118 andthen to a portable data carrier.

Referring now to FIG. 7, this shows a variety of content accessterminals for accessing data supply computer system 120 over internet142. The terminals are provided with an interface to a portable datacarrier or “smart Flash card” (SFC) as generally described withreference to FIG. 2 and as described in more detail below. In mostembodiments of the terminal the SFC interface allows the smart Flashcard data carrier to be inserted into and removed from the terminal, butin some embodiments the data carrier may be integral with the terminal.

Referring now to the specific embodiments illustrated in FIG. 7, asimple content access terminal may comprise a home personal computer 144with SFC interface 144 a. In another embodiment, a mobile communicationsdevice 152 is provided with a smart Flash card interface 152 a and iscoupled to internet 142 via radio tower 150, mobile communicationssystem 148 and mobile communications internet gateway 146.

In another embodiment, a smart Flash card interface is provided to aso-called “set top box” (STB) 154. The set top box is, in effect, areceiver for television programs received on video input 154 b, whichmay comprise a satellite TV signal, a cable TV signal or an off-air TVsignal. The video signal is provided from the set top box to television156 or to some other home entertainment device such as a personalcomputer (not shown). In another embodiment, content access terminals166 and 168 each with respective SFC interfaces 166 a and 168 a arecoupled to a retailer local area network (LAN) 160 connected to internet142 via retailer LAN server 158. DVD player 164 is also coupled to LAN160. In a further embodiment a smart Flash card interface 170 a isprovided for a CD/DVD player 170.

In these latter three embodiments, content data for storage on the smartFlash card may be retrieved from broadcast video and/or a CD or DVD. Inthis case, the computer data supply system 120 illustrated in FIG. 6 maybe used to provide use rule data for the content data stored on thesmart Flash card, and to pay for data downloaded onto the card; thecontent data may be captured before or after the data supply system 120is accessed to enable use of the stored data, but in a preferredembodiment content data written to the card from a supplier other thanthe content data supply computer system is not accessible to a useruntil corresponding use rule data has been downloaded from computersystem 120, which will normally be after receiving payment for thedownloaded data.

Referring now to FIG. 8, this shows a schematic diagram of oneembodiment of a data access terminal 170. The terminal comprises ageneral purpose computer including an audio/visual interface 184, akeyboard 186 and a pointing device 188 for providing an interface to theuser. The terminal has an internet interface 176, for example a modem,and optionally a LAN/WAN interface 174 for connecting the terminal to aretailer or distributor LAN or WAN. The terminal also has an optionalvideo input 178 for receiving broadcast video data and a media inputdevice 180, such as a CD or DVD drive. Further communications I/O ports182 may also be provided. A portable data carrier or smart Flash cardinterface 190 is provided for interfacing to a smart Flash card.Optionally, a cash input and verification system 192, such as isconventionally used in an automatic teller machine (ATM), may also beincorporated within the content access terminal. The terminal hasworking memory 194 such as RAM and program memory 196 which can compriseany conventional storage device such as RAM, ROM or a disk drive.Program code in program memory 196 may also be stored on removable disk198. A processor 200 loads and implements program code stored in programmemory 196. All the components of the terminal are linked by a data andcommunications bus 172.

More specifically, processor 200 loads and implements cash paymentmanagement code 200 a for managing cash input data from cash input andverification system 192, for adding value to a smart Flash card.Processor 200 also implements a web browser 200 b for accessing systemowner web pages and data exchange interface 200 c for exchanging databetween a smart Flash card interface to the terminal and data supplysystem 120.

Processor 200 also implements off-line contents retrieval code 200 d forretrieving data for storage on a smart Flash card from media inputdevice 180 and/or video input 178 and/or LAN/WAN interface 174. Theprocessor implements a content sampler 200 e for outputting smallextracts of content data items to a user via audio/visual interface 184.Such data item samples may be stored with the content description datain content access data store 140. The processor also implements a smartFlash card interface driver 200 f, user interface code 200 g andadditional communication drivers 200 h for driving LAN/WAN interface 174and/or comms I/O ports 182.

Referring now to FIG. 9, this shows a schematic diagram of components ofa portable data carrier 202, in the embodiment shown a so-called “smartFlash card”. In this context, “smart Flash card” refers to an IC cardsimilar in size to a plastic payment card incorporating a processor andFlash data memory, preferably of large capacity. For further details onsmart cards, reference may be made to the ISO (International StandardsOrganization) series of standards, including ISO 7810, ISO 7811, ISO7812, ISO 7813, ISO 7816, ISO 9992 and ISO 10102, which are herebyincorporated by reference.

Referring in more detail to FIG. 9, a data and communications bus 204links components of the card which include a processor 210, workingmemory 212, timing and control logic 208 and an external interface whichmay have contacts (ISO 7816) or be contactless (ISO 10536) for providingexternal access to a bus 204 for reading data from and writing data tothe card 202. Also coupled to bus 204 are permanent program memory 216,non-volatile data memory 218 and non-volatile (Flash) content datamemory 214. Non-volatile data memory 218 may comprise EEPROM andpermanent program memory 216 may comprise ROM, for example,mask-programmed ROM. All the components of FIG. 9 are mounted on asingle substrate, in a preferred embodiment bearing contacts forexternal interface 206.

Processor 200 loads and implements program code from permanent programmemory 216. This code comprises operating system code for providing thecard with a basic operating system for at least external communications;payment management code for supplying payment data from non-volatiledata memory 218 to pay for downloaded content; DRM (Digital RightsManagement) and security code, including code to implement content datause rules and code for password controlled access to data and programfunctions; CRM code for implementing CRM-related rules; and contentsynthesis code for combining stored content data with additional dataprovided via external interface 206 for synthesizing complete contentitem data.

Non-volatile data memory 218 stores data including card identity data,access control data, including password data for validating a userpassword, access record data for storing a record of access attempts andtheir outcomes, and content supply data such as system owner websiteaddresses and retailer/distributor website addresses.

Data memory 218 further stores card value data comprising e-money suchas publicly verifiable digital signatures, and payment data for storinga payment audit trail including payment amounts and data on to whompayments have been made. The memory 218 also stores RFM (RecencyFrequency Monetary) data to provide a record of transactions for marketresearch and customer reward purposes, and CRM data storing customerreward points. Data memory 218 also stores an index of content dataitems stored in Flash memory 214 and associated content use rules, aswell as DRM and royalty data for maintaining an audit trail of usehistory for rights management tracking Optionally, data memory 218 mayalso store supply chain data specifying a supply chain route throughwhich data has been obtained from a content provider, which may be usedfor rewarding supply chain intermediaries, for example on a commissionor reward points basis.

Content data memory 214 preferably comprises at least 100 MB of datastorage, partitioned as data blocks of a size selected to match thestored content type. For storing video data, Flash memory 214 preferablycomprises >1 GB data storage and the data blocks into which the datamemory is partitioned are larger.

Referring now to FIG. 10, this shows a schematic diagram of a dataaccess device 220, such as a portable audio/video player. The dataaccess device 220 comprises a conventional dedicated computer systemincluding a processor 238, permanent program memory 236, such as ROM,working memory 234, such as RAM, and timing and control logic 226 allcoupled by a data and communications bus 222. Also coupled to the busare an audio interface 228, a display 230 and user controls 232, forproviding a user interface. A smart Flash card interface 224 is coupledto bus 222 for interfacing with a smart Flash card for retrieving andplaying stored content data.

Permanent program memory 236 stores program code for implementation byprocessor 238; this code may also be provided on a data carrier such asa ROM chip or disk 240. Processor 238 implements an SFC interface 238 a,a user interface 238 b, a content player 238 d for retrieving storedcontent data from a smart Flash card interfaced to the device and foroutputting audio and/or video data derived from the retrieved contentdata (which may comprise compressed audio and/or video data) to a userof the device.

Processor 238 also implements use control 238 c for controlling accessto and use of contents stored on the smart Flash card by the contentaccess device user. Use control routine 238 c and/or DRM and securitycode in permanent memory 216 on the smart Flash card may also implementdigital watermarking and other Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI)content protection code as specified in the SDMI portable devicespecification, part one, version 1.0 (see www.sdmi.org) which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIGS. 11 a and 11 b show a flow diagram of a process for registering adata carrier or smart Flash card with a data supplier or system owneroperating a data supply system as illustrated in FIG. 6. A smart Flashcard may be issued entirely blank, that is, with no prestored content orvalue, with prestored value but no prestored content, with prestoredcontent but no prestored value (the content being provided free) or withboth prestored value and prestored content. Thus, for example, a usermay purchase a card with stored value but no stored content over thecounter at a retailer. The process of FIGS. 11 a and 11 b illustratesthe registration of a card with neither prestored content nor prestoredvalue. As illustrated the registration process records user registrationdata in the access control data store 138 of FIG. 6 and writes valuedata onto the blank card.

At step S10 a smart Flash card is inserted into a content accessterminal smart Flash card interface. The system owner web page is thenloaded onto the content access terminal and displayed to the user (stepS11). User registration data is then entered into the content accessterminal (step S12) and transmitted to the system owner (S13). The userregistration data may include a user identity, a preferred e-paymentsystem to use and, optionally, a content access PIN or password, and aservice level (for example bronze, silver or gold). The optionalpassword may be a password required by the e-payment system forvalidation of a payment by the user with the card or it may be apassword to protect unauthorized access to content on a smart Flash cardto protect stored data in the event, for example, of the card beingstolen. A single password may serve both these functions. The contentaccess terminal web browser is configured so that all sensitive datapassing between the terminal and the system owner is securelytransmitted, for example by using a conventional encryption system suchas PKI (Public Key Infrastructure).

At step S14 a payment request is received from the system owner at thecontent access terminal and displayed to the user. At step S15 the userenters payment data into the content access terminal and this paymentdata is transmitted to the system owner, for adding value to the card.This may, for example, be a credit card transaction as is conventionallyused for purchase over the internet. Card value data and a card valueaccess code is then received by the content access terminal from thesystem owner at step S16. The card value corresponds to the payment madeby the user and the value access code may be a password entered by theuser at step S12 or may comprise a password or PIN created by paymentprocessor 128 or e-payment system 121 as illustrated in FIG. 6. In apreferred embodiment, the user pays the system owner and the systemowner then directly provides digital signature data representing valueto the content access terminal for writing onto the smart Flash card.

At step S17, card registration data is received from the system owner bythe content access terminal and written onto the smart Flash card. Thiscard registration data comprises user identity data, access controldata, payment system specifying data, system owner access data, such asa system owner web page address and other dial-up information. At thisstage other data may be entered by the user and written onto the card,including, for example, user preference data, retail outlet and CRM data(alternatively user preference data may be captured at step S12). Atstep S18 the card value data and card value access code received at stepS16 is written onto the card and output to the user visually and,optionally, as a printed record. The card is then available for use, atstep S19.

FIG. 11 b shows the corresponding registration steps performed by thesystem owner's data supply system 120. At step S20, a request for asmart card registration web page is received from a content accessdevice and, at step S21, transmitted to the device. User registrationdata is then received, at step S22, from the content access terminal andstored in content access control data store 138. The system owner'scomputer system then transmits, at step S23, a payment request to thecontent access terminal and receives, at step S24, payment data inreply, this payment is then authenticated, at step S25, with ane-payment system such as payment system 121 a or b illustrated in FIG.6, and after verification the payment processor 128 of the computersystem transmits, at step S26, value data and a value access code to thecontent access terminal, for writing onto the smart Flash card. Thepayment processor then updates the payment record data store 136 withdata relating to the transaction (step S27) and, at step S28, retrievescard registration data previously written into the access control datastore and transmits this registration data to the content accessterminal. At step S29 the transaction is then complete.

Referring now to FIGS. 12 a-c, these illustrate a flow chart fordownloading data to a smart Flash card using a data access terminal. Atstep S30 the smart Flash card is inserted into the content accessterminal and the user then enters, at step S31, their password forgaining access to the functionality of the smart Flash card. At stepS32, the content access terminal transmits the password to the smartcard for verification and the terminal checks, at step S33, whetheraccess is permitted. If access is not permitted, a warning is displayedby the terminal, at step S34, and an access denied count is implemented.A threshold count is then read from the card together with a count ofthe total number of times access to the card has been denied (step S35).At step S36 the terminal checks whether the total number of deniedaccesses is within three of the card threshold, and if it is not,returns to step S31, while if it is, it proceeds to step S37 where theterminal displays a warning that a further denied access is likely toresult in erasure of content stored on the card. At step S38 theterminal then checks whether its count of denied accesses is greaterthan its threshold value, returning to step S31 if not, and displayingan access refused message at step S39 if the total number of permittedaccesses has been exceeded. The system then waits at step S39 forremoval of the smart Flash card from the content access terminal.

If access is permitted at step S33, the terminal loads outline CRM datafrom the card (step S40) and loads retail data, such as targetedadvertising, from the retailer LAN/WAN (step S41). At step S42, theterminal then displays a menu of options, retail data such asadvertising or CRM-related data and outline CRM data, such as a totalnumber of reward points earned, on the content access terminal. Manyoptions include download content (from a system owner), add monetaryvalue (to the card), check/spend CRM value stored on the card, followwebsite links, and exit. At step S43, the user inputs a menu optionwhich, in the illustrated flow chart, is the download option. The systemthus passes to step S44 and loads the system owner's content access webpage onto the content access terminal and displays this to the user.

At step S45, the user enters a content search request, which istransmitted to the system owner content distributor processor 134.Content search results are received back from the content distributionprocessor, including a content identifier, a brief description, andcontent cost data for at least one payment option, and these results aredisplayed on the user on the content access terminal. The user thenselects one or more content items at step S47 and the selection istransmitted to the content distribution processor 134 where furthercontent cost data and purchase option data is retrieved from data store140. At step S48, this content cost and purchase data (including userule data) is received from the system owner and displayed to theterminal user. The user then selects, at step S49, a purchase option andconfirms a purchase request or, alternatively, selects “exit” to returnto the menu display of step S42. After one or more content items havebeen selected, together with a purchase option, hard value and CRM datais read from the smart Flash card at step S50, and at step S51 a checkis made to determine whether the monetary and/or CRM (reward points)value stored on the smart Flash card is sufficient to purchase theselected purchase data items. If the card value is insufficient, awarning is displayed at step S52 and the system returns to the menudisplay at step S42. If the card value is sufficient, at step S53 thecontent access terminal transmits a payment request to the smart Flashcard.

Payment for the data item or items requested may either be made directlyto the system owner or may be made to an e-payment system such ase-payment systems 121 a and 121 b of FIG. 6, with these systems thenforwarding payment confirmation data to the system owner computersystem. Alternatively, the content access terminal may transmit data tothe card to set up a transaction directly with a content provider who,being the copyright owner, would normally receive the majority of thepayment.

At step S54, payment data for making a payment to the system owner isreceived from the smart Flash card by the content access terminal andforwarded to an e-payment system such as e-payment system 121 in FIG. 6.Payment record data, validating payment by the card to the system owner,is then received back from the e-payment system at step S55 by thecontent access terminal and forwarded to the card for updating paymentdata on the card. In alternative embodiments, payment data from the cardmay be provided directly to the system owner's data supply computer forauthentication and, optionally, further validation with an e-paymentsystem by the system owner's computer.

Distribution of the payment received by the system owner from the cardis performed by the system owner's computer system, as describedelsewhere. Such payment distribution will normally provide a smallpercentage of the total payment to a “owner” or operator of the contentaccess terminal, such as a retailer, distributor, or in otherembodiments, mobile communications network operator or cable TV networkoperator.

In the presently described embodiment, payment record data received instep S55 is transmitted to the system owner to confirm payment by thecard and thus it is the content access terminal, in the describedembodiment, which authenticates a payment before confirming that thepayment has been made to the system owner.

In step S56, together with the payment record data, purchase request andcard registration data is transmitted to the system owner to identifyone or more content data items for purchase and to identify thepurchaser. Then, at step S57, the content access terminal sets up atransaction between the system owner data supply computer and the smartFlash card for download of the identified content items requested fromthe data supplier to the smart Flash card. The download is preferablyarranged so that there is no permanent storage of downloaded data on thecontent access terminal (although temporary storage in a disk cache maybe permissible), and there is further preferably no temporary storage onthe content access terminal of complete data for a content data item.This provides data security and reassurance to the content providers.

In the same way as with card registration described with regard to FIG.11, a secure and trusted link is set up between the content accessterminal and/or the smart Flash card and the data supply computer in aconventional manner as is well known to those skilled in the art (forexample, using public key data encryption). The data transaction may beset up directly between the smart Flash card and the data supplycomputer, in which case the content access terminal has no access tounencrypted content data, or it may be set up between the content accessterminal and the data supply computer, in which case unencrypted data iswritten by the content access terminal to the smart Flash card. Standardtransmission protocols are used to ensure complete transmission of acontent data item, for example by re-transmitting blocks of data whichare not correctly received.

Also at step S57, one or more content access rules are received from thesystem owner data supply computer and written to the smart Flash card sothat each content data item has an associated use rule to specify underwhat conditions a user of the smart Flash card is allowed access to thecontent data item.

At step S58 the content access terminal receives CRM data from thecontent distribution processor 134 of the system owner, for examplespecifying a number of reward points earned by downloading the selectedcontent items. This CRM data will normally be written to the smart Flashcard (step S59), but may additionally or alternatively be stored in thecontent access terminal or in a data store of the content accessterminal owner so that the reward points are held by thedistributor/retailer/cable TV operator. Finally, also at step S59, acomplete record of details of the transactions between the smart Flashcard and the content access terminal, the smart Flash card and thesystem owner, the smart Flash card and the e-payment system, and thecontent access terminal and the e-payment system and/or data supplycomputer is recorded on the smart Flash card to provide an audit trail.The system then returns to the menu display at step S42.

The add monetary value menu option provided by the menu operates in asimilar manner to that described with regard to steps S15 and S16 ofFIG. 11 a and steps S24 to S27 of FIG. 11 b. In embodiments of thesystem in which the smart Flash card operates either in a debit(pre-pay) or credit mode, operating mode data may be loaded from thecard together with outlying CRM data at step S40. If the card isoperating in a credit mode then, at step S41, the content accessterminal reads content use data records from the card and proceedscorrespondingly to steps S47 and S48 to determine the value of thecontent accessed and then proceeds according to steps S15 and S16 ofFIG. 11 a and steps S24 to S27 of FIG. 11 b to retrieve payment for theaccessed content from the card owner. Where enhanced access controlfeatures are provided, access control data read from the smart Flashcard or entered into the content access terminal at step S31 is used, instep S44, to access the system owner content access webpage and, in someembodiments, to set up a secure connection between the content accessterminal and system owner data supply computer at step S44.

Referring now to FIGS. 12 d and 12 e, these show steps in a processimplemented on the system owner's data supply computer for providingcontent data to a content access terminal and thence to a data carriersuch as a smart Flash card. At step S60 the system owner's contentaccess web page is requested by a content access terminal andtransmitted to the requesting terminal. A search request for searchingfor a content data item is received, at step S61, from the contentaccess terminal, and at step S62 content distribution processor 134 ofthe content supply system searches content access and DRM data store 140and transmits the search results to the content access terminal. Thesearch results will normally comprise a content item identifier, acontent item description, optionally a content item sample, and at leastone content item price, for example for a default payment option. Thesearch results may comprise a set of content data items, either selectedby type or artist or comprising some predetermined selection in asimilar manner to a compilation of tracks on a CD.

At step S63 content item selection data identifying one or more contentitems is retrieved from the content access terminal, and at step S64content item purchase data for the selected content items is retrievedfrom content access and DRM data store 140. This purchase data willnormally include, for each selected content item, one or more prices andpurchase options. Purchase option data may simply comprise one of a setof standard options, for example “1” to purchase outright, “2” to rentfor a period of time, “3” to rent for a number of plays, and “4” to rentwith a final purchase option. The purchase option data may also indicatewhen a content item is available free.

At step S65 the content purchase data is transmitted to the contentaccess terminal, and at step S66 payment record data, indicating apayment made from the smart Flash card to the system owner, purchaserequest data, card registration data and, optionally, access controldata, is received from the content access terminal. The payment recorddata confirms a payment for the requested data items, the purchaserequest data specifies the payment option selected for the selectedcontent items, and the card registration data provides data for keepingrecords of the transaction and providing reward points; the accesscontrol data may be required for additional data security. At step S67the payment record data, in the described embodiment of the system, isvalidated with an e-payment system such as e-payment system 121 of FIG.6. As illustrated in the flow chart, the data supply system computerchecks with the e-payment system that a payment has in fact been made tothe system owner. In other embodiments of the system, payment may bemade directly to the system owner, and either concurrently with thecontent access and download process, or, at some later stage, paymentdata received from the smart Flash card may be verified with thee-payment system for reimbursement of the system owner.

At step S68, payment distribution data is read from the content accessdata store 140. This data will indicate how payment made by the card forthe data is to be distributed among recipients. In one embodiment,recipient's payment fractions are specified in general terms in thecontent access data store, for example copyright owner 0.90, systemowner 0.01, retailer/distributor 0.02, publisher 0.02, creator 0.05.Identification of who is the relevant copyright owner is stored in thedata store together with the content item identifier, but may beselected from more than one possible content provider for the data item,and identification of who is the relevant retailer/distributor may bedetermined from, for example, content access identity informationreceived from the content access terminal when the system owner contentaccess web page is accessed at step S60. At step S69, payments are thendistributed in accordance with the payment distribution data, either bydirect distribution of value-bearing digital signatures to the relevantparties, or by issuing a payment distribution instruction to e-paymentsystem 121. Preferably the data supply system stores records ofindividual card payments and, at intervals, combines the paymentdistribution data for a plurality of individual records to outputpayment data for distributing the total payment received by the datasupply system from a batch of individual payments.

At step S70, content access rules for the purchased level of service areread from the content access data store. These rules could, for example,specify that only a predetermined number of accesses to the content arepermitted, for example 10 plays. Alternatively, the rules could provideaccess for, say, one month from the download date. Other rules mayprovide unlimited plays but only on specified players, for example settop boxes owned by a particular cable TV network (as determined bycontent access device identification data provided to a smart Flash cardfrom a content access device). A content provider identification for therequested content data is also read from the content access data storeat step S70 together with CRM data for issuing reward points.

At step S71, content access rules for the requested content data itemsare retrieved from data store 140 and transmitted to the content accessterminal. Then, at step S72, DRM processor 130 of the data supply systemtransmits a transaction request and authentication data to the contentprovider identified in step S70. This request identifies the systemowner data supply system to the content provider in a secure manner,either by means of physical security, such as a dedicated connectionfrom the system owner data supply system to the content provider, or bymeans of an electronically secure connection such as an encryptionconnection. Then, at step S73, the content access web server 124receives protected content from the content provider, comprising thedata items requested by the content access terminal, and transmits thisprotected content to the content access terminal. The content ispreferably protected by data encryption but may be protected in otherways, for example, by digital watermarking or simply by the large numberof other transactions taking place at any one time over the internet.The data supply system computer, at this point, essentially acts as atransparent data forwarder, forwarding data from the content provider tothe content access terminal, which itself is preferably effectivelytransparent, using data exchange interface 200 c to transmit theprotected content data directly to the smart Flash card. As describedwith regard to FIG. 12 d, the content download protocol includes errorprotection and transmission retry protocols to ensure substantiallyerror-free data transmission.

Once content has been downloaded to the content access terminal (and,hence, to the smart Flash card) at step S74 a record of the purchasedata and content accessed is written to payment record data store 136,to provide an audit trail. Then, at step S75, updated CRM data iswritten to the content access data store 140, using rules stored in thecontent access data store, in conjunction with a record of thedownloaded data items, to calculate the CRM data (i.e. reward points).The updated CRM data is then also transmitted to the content accessterminal, where it can be forwarded to the smart Flash card. Then, atstep S76, the process ends.

Referring now to FIG. 13, this shows a flow chart for user access ofstored data on a smart Flash card using a data access device such as theMP3 player of FIG. 1. At step S77 the smart Flash card is inserted intothe player and, at step S78, the user enters a password into the player,which is transmitted to the smart Flash card for validation (this stepis optional). If access to stored data on the card is permitted, theprocess proceeds to step S79 where an index of content data items storedon the card is loaded from the card and displayed together with a menu.The menu provides options including access content, check value (storedon the card), check CRM data (such as reward points) stored on the card,and play options (such as no video, repeat play, random play, and thelike). If the user wishes to access content data items stored on thesmart Flash card, a user selection of such items is entered into theplayer at step S80, for example using cursor keys or a pointer;additionally or alternatively a default play option may be provided to,for example, play the most recently downloaded data.

At step S81 content use status data for the selected content items isloaded from the smart Flash card together with associated content userules. Then, at step S82, the use rules and present use status for eachselected content item are compared and the result is displayed togetherwith a content play menu. The content play menu may comprise a simplelist of the selected content items with items not available for accesshighlighted in, for example, red. Alternatively, more detailed contentaccess permission data may be displayed such as the purchased contentsuse for a content data item, the actual use of the data item made sofar, and the available remaining use. Then, at step S83, the playerdetermines whether content use is permitted. If use is not permitted,the process returns to step S79 to re-display the menu; if content useis permitted the system proceeds to step S84.

At step S84 the selected content data items whose use is permitted areretrieved sequentially from the card, decoded as necessary, and thedecoded audio and/or video data is made available to the user, forexample, by providing audio output at a headphone socket on the playerand displaying video output on the player display. Preferably, theplayer also retrieves supplementary data stored in association with acontent data item, such as advertising data, or for a web-enabledplayer, hot links to web sites for sale of goods or services,particularly those related to the accessed content data item or thoseidentified to appeal to users accessing the data item (such as pop groupmerchandizing or Harley Davidson (trade mark) motor bikes for rockmusic/video).

Preferably, the player is provided with “pause” and “continue” functionsand corresponding user controls. When “pause” is selected the processpasses to step S85 and writes a record to the smart Flash cardcomprising data specifying how much use has been made of the accessedcontent data item. In the case of music or video data, this may comprisestart and end time markers or simply a play duration time (the starttime being predetermined, for example at the start of the data item). Inthe case of a game the partial use data may comprise an elapsed playtime or a number of lives left. In the case of a data item providing aservice such as access to stock and share prices, or weatherinformation, or a share dealing service, the partial use information maycomprise a status record indicating the status of an interruptedtransaction. When the “continue” function is selected on the player theprocess returns to step S84.

To allow for the smart Flash card being removed from the player betweenpause and continue events, a check may be made at step S78, by reading apartial use status data from the card, to determine whether a contentdata item was left in a pause state when the card was last used. If sucha pause state is determined to exist for a content data item, theprocess may then jump directly to step S85 to allow a user to resume orcontinue with the content data item and proceed directly to step S84.

Once play is complete the process moves to step S85 where updatedcontent use data is written to the smart Flash card. This updated usedata provides a record of the use of a content made in step S84. Thisrecord can then be used in steps S81 to S83 to determine, on asubsequent occasion, whether further use of the content data item ispermitted. Finally, at step S86, customer reward management reward rulesare loaded from the smart Flash card together with CRM data stored onthe card. The CRM data is then updated, using the CRM reward rules, toreflect the use of content data items made in step S84 and the updateddata is written back to the smart Flash card.

In one embodiment the CRM reward rules are determined by the contentaccess terminal owner (retailer/distributor/cable or mobile networkoperator) and are written onto the card when registering the card. Theupdated CRM data may then be accessed by a content access terminal forspending or other use when the smart Flash card is next inserted into acontent access terminal. Once the CRM data has been updated, the processreturns to step S79 to display the content index and menu.

The specific embodiments of the invention described above usecommunication over the internet and web-based technology but this is notessential, and the invention may be implemented using any electroniccommunications network, such as a wide area network, local area network,wireless network, or conventional land line network. Likewise, theinvention is applicable to the internet, intranets, extranets, and otherinternet protocol networks.

The skilled person will understand that many variants to the system arepossible and the invention is not limited to the described embodimentsbut encompasses modifications which lie within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A content data supply server for providing anitem of multimedia content to a handheld multimedia terminal, thecontent data supply server comprising: a network interface capable ofcommunicating with a network to enable communication with the handheldmultimedia terminal; a program store storing code implementable by aprocessor; a processor coupled to the network interface, to the programstore and to a data store configured to store identifier dataidentifying one or more items of multimedia content available fordownloading to the handheld multimedia terminal, the code comprising:code to receive a request from the handheld multimedia terminal for saididentifier data identifying said one or more items of multimedia contentavailable to said handheld multimedia terminal; code to retrieve saididentifier data from said data store; code to transmit said identifierdata via said network interface to said handheld multimedia terminal;code to receive payment validation data validating a user purchase of anitem of said multimedia content; and code responsive to said paymentvalidation data validating said user purchase to retrieve the purchaseditem of multimedia content data from a multimedia content store andtransmit said purchased item of multimedia content via said networkinterface to said handheld multimedia terminal.
 2. A content data supplyserver as claimed in claim 1, wherein said content data supply servercomprises said data store configured to store said identifier data.
 3. Acontent data supply server as claimed in claim 1, wherein said processoris coupled to said data store via said network interface or anothernetwork interface.
 4. A content data supply server as claimed in claim1, further comprising code to receive payment record data indicating apayment made by a user for said item of multimedia content.
 5. A contentdata supply server as claimed in claim 4, further comprising coderesponsive to receiving the payment record data to request said paymentvalidation data.
 6. A content data supply server as claimed in claim 5,wherein the code to request the payment validation data comprises codeto transmit at least a portion of said payment record data.
 7. A contentdata supply server as claimed in claim 1, wherein said content datasupply server comprises said multimedia content store.
 8. A content datasupply server as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: code to receivea request from said handheld multimedia terminal for content informationpertaining to at least one of the items of multimedia content identifiedby said identifier data, wherein said content information comprises oneor more of description data and cost data; code to retrieve said contentinformation from said data store; and code to transmit said contentinformation to said handheld multimedia terminal.
 9. A content datasupply server as claimed in claim 1, wherein said item of multimediacontent comprises one or more of music, films, TV programs, text,software, or games software.
 10. A content data supply server as claimedin claim 1, wherein said item of multimedia content comprises additionalcontent for games software.
 11. A content data supply server as claimedin claim 1, further comprising code responsive to said paymentvalidation data validating said user purchase to transmit at least oneaccess rule to said handheld multimedia terminal, wherein said at leastone access rule specifies at least one condition for accessing saidretrieved and purchased item of multimedia content data.
 12. A contentdata supply server as claimed in claim 11, wherein said data store ormultimedia content store further stores said at least one access rule,and further comprising code to read said at least one access rule fromsaid data store or multimedia content store.
 13. A content data supplyserver as claimed in claim 1, wherein said network interface comprises awireless interface.
 14. A content data supply server as claimed in claim1, further comprising code to transmit supplementary data via saidnetwork interface to said handheld multimedia terminal.
 15. A contentdata supply server as claimed in claim 14, wherein said supplementarydata comprises advertising data.
 16. A method of providing an item ofmultimedia content to a handheld multimedia terminal, the methodcomprising: receiving a request from said handheld multimedia terminalfor identifier data identifying one or more items of multimedia contentdata available to said handheld multimedia terminal; retrieving saididentifier data from a data store; transmitting said identifier data tosaid handheld multimedia terminal; receiving payment validation datavalidating a user purchase of an item of multimedia content; andresponsive to said payment validation data validating said userpurchase, retrieving said purchased item of multimedia content data froma multimedia content store and transmitting said purchased item ofmultimedia content to said handheld multimedia terminal.
 17. A method asclaimed in claim 16, further comprising receiving payment record dataindicating a payment made by a user for said item of multimedia content.18. A method as claimed in claim 17, further comprising requesting saidpayment validation data responsive to receiving said payment recorddata.
 19. A method as claimed in claim 18, wherein said requesting saidpayment validation data comprises transmitting at least a portion ofsaid payment record data.
 20. A method as claimed in claim 16, furthercomprising: receiving a request from said handheld multimedia terminalfor content information pertaining to at least one of said items ofmultimedia content identified by said identifier data, wherein saidcontent information comprises one or more of description data and costdata; retrieving said content information from said data store; andtransmitting said content information to said handheld multimediaterminal.
 21. A method as claimed in claim 16, wherein said item ofmultimedia content comprises one or more of music, films, TV programs,text, software, or games software.
 22. A method as claimed in claim 16,wherein said item of multimedia content comprises additional content forgames software.
 23. A method as claimed in claim 16, further comprisingresponsive to said payment validation data validating said userpurchase, transmitting at least one access rule to said handheldmultimedia terminal, wherein said at least one access rule specifies atleast one condition for accessing said retrieved and purchased item ofmultimedia content data.
 24. A method as claimed in claim 23, furthercomprising reading said at least one access rule from said data store ormultimedia content store.
 25. A method as claimed in claim 16, furthercomprising transmitting supplementary data to said handheld multimediaterminal.
 26. A method as claimed in claim 25, wherein saidsupplementary data comprises advertising data.
 27. A computer system forproviding multimedia data items to a handheld multimedia terminal, thesystem comprising: a network interface; a data store for storing recordsof multimedia data items available from the system, each recordcomprising a data item description and a pointer to a data provider forthe data item; a program store storing code implementable by aprocessor; a processor coupled to the network interface, to said datastore, and to said program store for implementing the stored code, thecode comprising: code to receive a request for a multimedia data itemfrom said handheld multimedia terminal; code to receive from saidnetwork interface payment validation data comprising data confirmingpayment for said requested multimedia data item; code responsive to saidrequest and to said received payment validation data, to read saidrequested multimedia data item from a content provider; and code totransmit said read multimedia data item to said handheld multimediaterminal over said network interface.
 28. A computer system as claimedin claim 27, further comprising code to receive payment record dataindicating a payment made by a user for said item of multimedia content.29. A computer system in claim 28, further comprising code responsive tosaid receiving said payment record data to request said paymentvalidation data.
 30. A computer system as claimed in claim 27, furthercomprising code responsive to said request for said multimedia data itemand to said received payment validation data, to transmit at least oneaccess rule to said handheld multimedia terminal, wherein said at leastone access rule specifies at least one condition for accessing saidretrieved and purchased item of multimedia content data.
 31. A computersystem as claimed in claim 27, wherein said network interface comprisesa wireless interface.
 32. A computer system as claimed in claim 27,further comprising code to transmit supplementary data via said networkinterface to said handheld multimedia terminal.
 33. A content datasupply server as claimed in claim 32 wherein said supplementary datacomprises advertising data.
 34. A method of providing an item ofmultimedia content to a handheld multimedia terminal, the methodcomprising: sending a request for identifier data from said handheldmultimedia terminal to a content data supply server, wherein saididentifier data identifies one or more items of multimedia content dataavailable for downloading to the handheld multimedia terminal;responsive to said request for identifier data, communicating saididentifier data from said content data supply server to said handheldmultimedia terminal; receiving, at said handheld multimedia terminal,said identifier data identifying said one or more items of multimediacontent available for downloading to said handheld multimedia terminal;sending a request for content information from said handheld multimediaterminal to a server, wherein said content information comprises one ormore of description data and cost data pertaining to said one or moreitems of multimedia content identified by said identifier data;responsive to said request for content information, communicating saidcontent information pertaining to said one or more items of multimediacontent from said server to said handheld multimedia terminal;receiving, at said handheld multimedia terminal, said contentinformation; presenting said content information pertaining to said oneor more items of multimedia content on a display of said handheldmultimedia terminal; responsive to a user selection of one or more ofsaid items of multimedia content, transmitting payment data for saidselected one or more items of multimedia content to a payment system;processing said payment data and generating payment validation datadefining if said request for payment has been validated; receiving, atsaid handheld multimedia terminal, payment validation data defining ifsaid payment data has been validated; responsive to said paymentvalidation data confirming said payment data has been validated,requesting said selected one or more items of multimedia content from acontent data supply server; receiving, at a content data supply server,a request for said selected one or more items of multimedia content; andresponsive to said request for said selected one or more items ofmultimedia content, receiving said one or more items of multimediacontent from a multimedia content store and providing said one or moreitems of multimedia content to said handheld multimedia terminal.
 35. Amethod as claimed in claim 34, wherein said receiving and providing saidone or more items of multimedia content is further responsive toconfirming, at said content data supply terminal, validation of saidpayment data for said one or more items of multimedia content.
 36. Amethod as claimed in claim 34, wherein said payment data comprises arequest for payment.
 37. A method as claimed in claim 34, wherein saidpayment data comprises user data identifying a user of said handheldmultimedia terminal.
 38. A method as claimed in claim 34, wherein saidpayment data comprises a user password.
 39. A method as claimed in claim34, further comprising communicating supplementary data to said handheldmultimedia terminal.
 40. A method as claimed in claim 39, wherein saidsupplementary data comprises advertising data.